Shedding

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branch, connection, John, lesson, nature, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, vine

I”ve spent some time yesterday and the day before picking up branches under one of our large maple trees. I hope that today I will complete the task and be able to rake and then cut the grass under that tree. We’ve had an inordinate amount of shedding going on this spring, mostly because of the heavy winds of the past few months. Some of the branches could be mistaken for trees themselves because they are so very large. As I drag them to a pile on the edge of our property, I sometimes wonder what made them separate from the tree as many of them seem strong and not at all diseased. People would say that it’s just the way of things in nature: they live, are nourished by their root system and then they die – either from a weather event or just old age.

Clearing the branches makes me more aware of the gifts of the trees to our ecosystem and to me. Beauty, shade and release of necessary gasses as they breathe are notable reasons to be grateful, as is the shelter they provide for the birds. Interestingly, today the gospel is the familiar “vine and branches” reading from John that speaks to us of our connection to one another and to God. And that is perhaps the greatest lesson of all.

Remain

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connection, flowering, fruit, Jesus, John, remain, steadfast, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, vine, wine

In my neighborhood we’re just beginning to see the flowering of trees that we hope will later produce much fruit. In the southwestern part of our state vintners are hoping for just the right mix of sun and rain that will assure an abundance of grapes this year. Driving in wine country is a breathtaking experience of seeing acres and acres first of the perfectly pruned “naked” vines secured in row after row and later those same vines in full leaf. It’s then time to walk the fields in order to see the fruit hidden among the leaves and experience the fragrance of the ripening grapes. (Oh yes, and then there is the wine tasting…)

From observing nature in this and many other ways, we come to better understand the frequent references of Jesus to life and growth in the Spirit. Often, for me, there is a word (usually a verb) that deepens the meaning of the message. Today that word is “remain.” In what scholars have come to call the “final discourse” of Jesus in John’s gospel (ch. 14-17), there are many beautiful sentiments, none more vivid or familiar, perhaps, than “the vine and the branches.” Jesus says, Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. As I read those two sentences, the verb remain, repeated four times, reverberates in me as a clear call to fidelity. The essential truth is that if the connection of the branch to the vine is severed, life is irrevocably cut off. But the responsibility for connection is not all on us! The effort of remaining steadfast in all of life’s circumstances is made worthy of any struggle because of the promise that Christ also remains in us. Knowing this, I am willing for the pruning as much as for the ripening and trust that all will come to fruition in the fullness of time.

 

 

A Sturdy Vine

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bear fruit, branches, fidelity of purpose., grapevine, Jesus, John, lessons, spiritual practices, strength, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, vine

Each time I read about the vine and the branches in John’s gospel (15:1-8) I am reminded of the time I tried to dig up the old grapevine that sat in the middle of our yard. It was certainly older than I and we thought it was time for it to retire. It was one of the best spiritual practices I had ever engaged! We were both quite steadfast: me following the branches into the ground over days of digging and pulling until all merged into one, and the vine always one step ahead of me in tenaciousness. I ended finally by cutting it below ground level, blessing it for the lessons it had taught me of strength and fidelity of purpose.

This morning Jesus says he is the vine and we are the branches. He calls us to make our home in him to bear fruit. Those words offer me an image of warmth, being cradled as the nutrients for growth, the life force, the light of the sun and of God flow into me from the strong central core of my being, Christ. There can be no branch without that firm, steady center. Remain in me, Jesus says, as I remain in you. Together we will bear much fruit. With that promise I go forward into this sunny day.